Thursday, 19 November 2015

Legio Astraman

Good evening all.

I'm taking a little break from the usual midnight clad to bring you something all together different. For the last few years I've been amassing a loyalist titan legion. In the early days I decided upon Legio Astraman simply because I love green but had no green armies to speak of (oi! back in the box Grotsnik). So started the saga of Legio Astraman. I'm very aware that there are very few Astraman titans kicking around, I know of another player in the USA that has a modest force but I've never been one to shy away from an underrepresented force in the war gaming world.

I've actually been painting these with the older Games Workshop paints (which I managed to stock pile before they disappeared for good). The green is a base of Knarloc Green with Goblin Green layered on top. The blues and whites are using the newer paints (Administratum Grey, Ceramite White, Kantor Blue and Calledor Sky) although I'm still using Shinning Gold for the trim.

This week I've been adding a bit more colour to the panels on the titans - namely the knees pads on the two Reavers. All the parts of the titans were primed in Halford's black matt primer and then were given a base coat of Leadbelcher, Warplock Bronze and Rhinox Hide (1:1:1) which I mix up in a washed out tester pot from Wilkos or B&Q. Once dry I then washed the parts liberally with Nuln Oil and then when dry again give them a rough dry brush with Leadbelcher .

So here are the various stages;

Kantor Blue

Administratum Grey

Calledor Sky

first pass with the Ceramite White

finished pad

finished pad

Knarloc Green

Goblin Green

finished pads (minus the detail work on the emblem pad)

To get the straight lines (all my stuff is brush not airbrush) I use sellotape (as it curves around raised sections) and a sharp pencil to mark out the lines - the rest is freehanded on with said brush. Sometimes a little adjustment is needed but usually it's ok out of the gate.

So this is where they all stand for now;

Reaver Titan 'Ardua Dominus Mortem'

armed with three apocalypse launchers

Reaver Titan 'In Monte Iratus'

armed with two volcano cannons and turbo laser destroyer

Warhound Titan 'Dominus Canem'

armed with two turbo laser destroyers

Warhound Titan 'Velox Venator'

armed with vulcan mega-bolter and ursus claw

I'm hoping to bring you more updates from these soon and perhaps some older WIP shots of their creation, along with the other titans I'm still adding to their number.

I have yes :-) I'm hoping some more Astraman players make themselves known soon. I do pride myself on my steady hand :-) I just find it easier than unpacking the airbrush and risk masks bleeding. I did use an airbrush to base coat the titan metal mix though - purely for speed.

Hey Adam :-) To be honest the titans are a labour of love and a collection foremost rather than playing pieces. I've only ever been able to field titans on two occasions and the games were very tongue in cheek. I'm not sure what you mean by 'cheesy arming', (all the weapons are magnetised for swap outs) but I've certainly had lots of fun games with friends, I'm sure the titans will see some action at Bunnies events in the future and I'm sure you'll get the skinny on the battles via the blog. I'm very much a heresy player these days so apocalypse games really don't get much consideration from me anymore :-)

Love the look of In Monte Iratus. Such an iconic Reaver from epic look for me. Was my favourite looking Loadout back then and is nice to see it can work on a bigger version. Can't wait to get a sizeable force to take you on Ben. Would be great to create a rule set for it too.

Anybody else feel like some of the arms in the betrayal at calth set are kind of restricting in the poses?I mean what if I wanted a Sargent aiming with a combination Bolter or one with an outstretched powersword arm. How have people come up with alternatives?Suggestions?

I must say that in the complete titan pictures, I find personally that the green parts look too pastel (I'm not sure if that's the correct word in English, so you'll have to excuse me if it isn't the case), although it might be because of ilumination on the pictures or a fault in my monitor.The blue and white pads look really good and doing it by hand is something I don't think I could achieve.

Anyways, I am impressed with your titan legion, it's unusual to see a single person in possession of a group of titans out of epic scale, and it must have been a lot of effort to assemble and paint them, but I suppose it also brought a lot of enjoyment.

LOVE the Legio Astraman because of their color scheme. I would have chosen them had I not decided to do my own Legio to tie in to my personal Chapter's fluff (they are green and blue, funny enough). I absolutely love what you've done with your Titans. If I ever do a Legio Astraman Titan, then I believe I'll have to come back to your painting guide for it.